Noon
Medium
mezzotint on laid paper
Dimensions
plate: 18.5 x 25.5 cm (7 5/16 x 10 1/16 in.) sheet: 19.5 x 30.6 cm (7 11/16 x 12 1/16 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Paul Mellon Fund
Accession Number
2001.118.23
Art Historical Context
**Noon**, a captivating mezzotint created by David Lucas in 1830 after John, invites visitors into the luminous heart of the English countryside. Constable, the revered Romantic landscape painter (1776–1837), was renowned for his fresh, naturalistic depictions of Suffolk's skies and fields, emphasizing fleeting atmospheric effects. Lucas, his skilled engraver collaborator, translated these visions into print as part of the ambitious *English Landscape Scenery*, allowing wider access to Constable's oil sketches amid limited original sales. Mezzotint, a "dark-mannered" intaglio technique, was i...